WILMA’S STORY, AS JIM SEARS TELLS IT

--Wilma Margaret Carroll, a Denison school teacher, married Howell W. Nolte in Durant, Oklahoma, in August 1933, when she was 28 and he was about 35.

--Mrs. Nolte taught first grade at Raynal School. Howell was a manual arts teacher at Denison High School. He is mentioned three or four times in Bryant and Hunt’s book, Two Schools on Main Street.

--In 1930, Howell Nolte was still listed in the City Directory with a previous wife, Jewell M. Nolte, also a school teacher. Their son, William Howell (Bill) Nolte, was born in October 1932.

--Perhaps Jewell died, for Wilma raised Bill. He graduated from Denison High School in 1949, when he was not yet 17. (Perhaps having three parents and an aunt who teach school is an academic advantage.) In 2010, he was living in Ormond Beach, Florida.

--In the 1946 Denison City Directory, Howell Nolte is still listed as a school teacher, but by 1949 he had changed careers, becoming a field specialist for the U.S. Veterans Administration. He died in November 1949, at about age 52.

--By 1951, Wilma had moved from 624 West Gandy Street back to 515 North Burnett. Howell’s son Bill had moved with her. At that time, the Carroll family home was owned by her mother, Meta D. Carroll (widow of John T. Carroll).

--Bill is listed as a student in 1951. Since he graduated from high school in 1949, he must have been attending college somewhere. I have found so many references to "William Howell Nolte" on the Web that I suspect there may be more than one person with that name. He may have become an English professor, literary critic, doctor, pilot, real estate agent, or all or none of those things.

--Wilma Carroll Nolte died in 1968, at age 63. She is buried at Fairview Cemetery. Howell Nolte died in 1949 and was buried in his home town, San Angelo.

MEMORIES

Marvin Hunt recalled: “Miss Nolte told me my real name was Marvin, not "Dust", in first grade, 1955. I cried so much my dad had to come to the school.”

Dianne Henry Stiff had this to say: “Loved these two wonderful ladies. Mrs. Nolte was my first-grade teacher and made learning so much fun. She was a remarkable person with little ones, as she made everyone feel so special. Can't remember anyone not wanting to go to school. Mrs. O'Dell was a good principal, and I always remembered that her favorite color was purple. [She wore] purple glasses and purple clothes. Always firm with the kids that needed to be firm with and had them eating out her hand. Everyone respected her and didn't want to be on her bad side. I feel blessed to have gone to a school that had wonderful teachers that cared and gave so much to their students. I am so glad to read this information on the Carroll sisters. Venita and Wilma were very special to me as well as to many others in this era.”

Carole Moody had a special connection: “My youngest sister is named for Ms. Venita O'Dell. Her name is Venita, and she is also a teacher!!!!!”